No Pre-Tribulation Rapture

July 12, 2025 9 Comments

There will be no pre-tribulation ‘rapture’ (PTR) for Christians. To those who believe the ‘rapture’ will precede a lengthy tribulation period (usually understood to be seven years), I challenge you to provide full, coherent biblical support for this doctrine.

Now, of course there will be a ‘rapture’ event. The first letter to the Thessalonians makes this clear (1 Thess 4:13–17). But the text does not state that this will occur prior to some future period of (great) tribulation. On the contrary, this text implies that the ‘rapture’ will occur shortly before the very end of things:

4:13 Now brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who are sleeping, so that you will not grieve as the rest—those who have no hope. 14 For since we believe Jesus died and rose again, in this way also God will bring those who have fallen asleep through Jesus along with Him [Jesus]. 15 For this we say to you, by word of the Lord: We who are alive, those remaining until the Coming [Parousia] of the Lord, will surely not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 Because He, the Lord, will descend from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first; 17 then we who are alive, those remaining, shall be caught up [harpazō, ‘raptured’] together along with them, in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall be forever with the Lord.1

Let’s reason through this. Given that Paul here teaches that the resurrection of the dead in Christ will precede the ‘rapture’ of those still alive at Jesus’ Second Coming (Parousia), the logical implication is that there will be no further resurrection or ‘rapture’ of Christians to follow. In other words, we should not expect another resurrection of the dead or ‘rapture’ to come after these two events.

Yet, proponents of the pre-tribulation ‘rapture’ (PTR) doctrine2 typically understand the book of Revelation to speak of “tribulation saints”—those who come to Christian faith during the (great) tribulation, which is to follow the earlier PTR event.3 But this necessarily implies a second raising of dead “tribulation saints” and/or a second ‘rapture’ of those “tribulation saints” still alive at a ‘second’ Second Coming when the Lord comes to wage war against His adversaries (Rev 19:11–21). Scripture does not support such a thing. So then, what becomes of these “tribulation saints” under this PTR view?

Logically, it is much better to conceive the raising of the dead and the ‘rapture’ of those still alive in 1 Thess 4:13–18 as occurring after the final (great) tribulation period.  This concurs with Matthew’s recording of Jesus’ words on the Mount of Olives (Matt 24:15–31). As 24:21 states: “For then shall be great tribulation [thlipsis megalē] such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, and not ever, no, never shall be.” Following Matthew’s further description of the great tribulation, some fantastical cosmic events (24:29) foreshadow Christ’s return

24:30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in the sky, and all the tribes/people of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming upon the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 31 And He will send His angels/messengers with a great trumpet, and He will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other.”

Certainly this gathering together of “His elect” refers to the same event described in 1 Thess 4:15–17. And this all easily harmonizes with Paul’s first epistle to the Corinthians:

15:51 Take note! I tell you a mystery: Not all will sleep, but all will be changed— 52 in an instant, in the blinking of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.

All three passages—1 Thessalonians 4:15–17, Matthew 24:30–31, and 1 Corinthians 15:51–52—describe a trumpet blast in conjunction with the end times gathering of Christians. Surely, these passages are describing the same trumpet.

Applying Occam’s razor, the raising of the dead in Christ and the ‘rapture’ of those saints still alive at Jesus’ Second Coming occurs after the great tribulation. Of course, God’s children will not suffer the wrath (orgē) of God (1 Thess 5:9), as God’s enemies certainly will. But this does not mean Christians will not suffer persecution—even unto death—at the hands of God’s enemies. This was precisely the issue in the Thessalonian ekklēsia (1 Thess 4:13–15; 2 Thess 1:5–7).

“But the one who endures to the end, this one shall be saved” (Matt 24:13).

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1 My translation, as are all here.

2 See Got Questions: When is the Rapture going to occur in relation to the Tribulation?

3 See Got Questions: What are tribulation saints?

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2024 Brings Surge in Bible Sales

December 7, 2024 Leave a comment

Though overall sales of printed books increased a slim 1% over the previous year, 2024 Bible sales have surged a whopping 22% over 2023 purchases. According to research (see here and here, e.g.), many of these are first-time buyers. I will take that as good news!

The increase, in part, appears to be fueled by new Bible versions.

Let’s pray this leads to Christian conversions—that at least some will be led to true Christianity, a saving faith through Jesus Christ. A Merry Christmas indeed!

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Rahab Lied

September 25, 2024 3 Comments

I can almost picture it in a cartoon: Quick! They went that-a-way! All the while Rahab had been hiding the spies Joshua sent.

Of course, we know Rahab was a prostitute. As such, lying would not be foreign to the occupation.

Yet there she is in Matthew’s genealogy (1:5). And she’s found in the faith hall of fame in the Book of Hebrews (11:31). And James (2:25) even implies Rahab was rewarded in part for her deception!

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What to Believe

August 2, 2024 5 Comments

All individuals’ beliefs are informed by premises—what I might call ‘pre-beliefs’. These ‘pre-beliefs’ then compound themselves in an individual’s belief system. Some of these ‘pre-beliefs’ may be based on information obtained from others who have their own ‘pre-beliefs’ and who may or may not frame their information in an objective manner (which can lead one to an ‘appeal to authority fallacy’).

With all the forgoing in mind, as for myself, I’m continually reassessing my beliefs—and especially those ‘pre-beliefs’ informing my beliefs. This includes all spheres, both religious and secular.

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Too Oft Forgotten

January 9, 2024 Leave a comment

For those who are grieving, healing occurs only through time. When you discover that an hour has passed since you’ve last thought about the object or subject of your grief, then you know you are traveling down the path of recovery. After hours or even days go by that you realize you’ve focused on other things to the exclusion of your grief, then you know you are recovering all the more.

But I find myself grieving in a sort of inverse manner with respect to time. When I discover that I’d not thought about my faith, my Savior, or about the Holy Spirit residing in me for an hour, I grieve. And when this has occurred over a few hours stretch, even more grief and disappointment ensue. I know I should always rely on the Spirit to guide me, even in the most mundane of things, yet I too often rely on myself.

The impetus for writing this post came when I revisited one of my favorite musical pieces, titled “Forgotten Love”. I wondered: To whom or what does the writer/pianist refer? Was this his own forgotten love? If so, what prompted the remembrance? Will it no longer be forgotten now that the piece itself provides a musical reminder?

I know Who my ‘forgotten love’ is (Rev 2:4). And now this music will help me remember not to forget.

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And the Word Became Flesh

December 24, 2023 5 Comments

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us—Emmanuel, God with us. Some beheld Jesus’ glory. All will someday behold His glory.

He is full of grace and truth. To all those who receive Him—to those believing in Jesus’ name—He gives authority to become God’s children. Grace and truth comes through Jesus Christ.

God with us. Christ with us.

Christ with me.

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Ambiguous Signs

December 12, 2023 9 Comments

While driving the other day I saw this sign:

HITCHHIKERS MAY BE ESCAPING CONVICTS

Given that there is a ‘corrections’ facility nearby, this probably means, “Hitchhikers may be escapees from prison.” The word ESCAPING is functioning as an adjective—specifically, an adjectival participle—modifying the noun CONVICTS. Therefore, it means:

HITCHHIKERS MAY BE CONVICTS THAT ARE ESCAPING

But the way the sign is written, ESCAPING could be interpreted as a verb rather than the intended adjective:

HITCHHIKERS MAY BE ESCAPING FROM CONVICTS

This places an entirely different meaning over what was intended!

Should those responsible for creating this sign see this blog post, I hope they are convicted . . . of their unintended ambiguity. That is, I hope the writers would come under conviction for their imprecise wording. Making one minor change would alleviate the ambiguity:

HITCHHIKERS MAY BE ESCAPED CONVICTS

If convicts are hitchhiking, they have already escaped! So, changing the adjectival participle from present (-ing) to past (-ed) would convey the message properly.

Praising Polysemy

But sometimes ambiguity is intentionally employed as a linguistic device to enrich a text. It can take the form of polysemy, in which a text plays on a particular word’s myriad shades of meanings (also known as multivalence). Our Scriptures contain quite a few instances of such. An example is in John 1:5:1

1:1 In the beginning the Word existed, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 Through Him all things came to be, and without Him not even one thing came to be that has come to be. 4 In Him was life, and that life was the Light of humanity. 5 The Light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not apprehend [katelaben] it.

D. A. Carson calls 1:5 “a masterpiece of planned ambiguity”.2 A newcomer to John’s Gospel may only see the creation event of Genesis 1-2 here. But, of course, the Gospel writer intends much more than that.3

The final verb katelaben [aorist active indicative form] is a compound word consisting of the preposition kata and the verb lambanō. The former means ~down, the latter take or receive. But as with many words prefixed with a preposition, the resulting word acquires intensification and an additional nuance. Its basic definition is grasp, as in either hostile (seize) or non-hostile (secure), though, alternatively, it can carry the idea of mental grasping (perceive).4 Danker asserts that the writer in this context intends the combined “sense of grasp as seize and comprehend.”5 The translation “apprehend” above is an attempt to capture this perceived polysemy.

On first reading, one could understand all of 1:1-5 cosmologically, such that the darkness of Genesis 1:2 would not overcome the light of Genesis 1:3. But after having read through John’s Gospel, a subsequent reading of the prologue (John 1:1–18) may prompt the reader to see an allusion to Genesis 3.6 More likely, the light/darkness dichotomy exhibited throughout the Gospel will bring the reader to perceive a connection between v. 5 and vv. 10-11.7 While the Light continued and continues to shine (imperfective aspect) in order to illuminate the darkness (John 8:12; 9:5), the darkness chose to remain in darkness (John 3:19-21), failing to comprehend the true nature of the Light (John 11:9-10; 12:35-36, 46).8 Those in darkness can be brought to the Light through the continuous shining of the Light, but the darkness itself remains.

Continuing in this light (pun intended), the reader can see an illusion to Revelation 12:4: And the dragon [darkness] stood before the woman who was about to give birth [to the Light], so that when she gave birth he might devour her child. Yet despite the dragon’s best efforts, Christmas did come!

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1 My translation.

2 D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John, Pillar New Testament Commentary, D. A. Carson, gen. ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1991), p 119. [I am also reminded of one of my favorite lyric lines: well-defined ambiguity (from “Straight Jacket”, written by Mike Watt, as performed and recorded by Minutemen, The Punch Line, SST records, SST-004, 1981.)]

3 Carson, Gospel, states, “it is quite possible that John, subtle writer that he is, wants his readers to see in the Word both the light of creation and the light of the redemption the Word brings in his incarnation” (p 120).

4 F. W. Danker, The Concise Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (Chicago, IL: Chicago, 2009), p 191.

5 Ibid; emphasis in original. Cf. Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of John: A Commentary, two volumes (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, [2003] 2010 [1st softcover ed.]), p 1.387. Contra, e.g., Andreas J. Köstenberger, Encountering John, Encountering Biblical Studies Series (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1999), p 55, in which the author opines that “overcome” is the primary meaning, though “understand” may be ‘latent’ (my word) in the verse “in preparation of 1:10-11”.

6 See Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John I-XII, The Anchor Yale Bible; (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974), p 8. Under this understanding the aorist κατέλαβεν, katelaben is interpreted as a one-time past event.

7 See C. K. Barrett, The Gospel According to St. John: An Introduction with Commentary and Notes on the Greek Text, 2nd ed. (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1978), p 158.

8 See Keener, Gospel of John, pp 1.382-387 for fuller discussion of light, including light as Wisdom and Torah; cf. Brown, John I-XII, pp 519-522.

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Thanking God in Failure: Arvo Pärt | Litany | Orient & Occident

December 3, 2023 4 Comments

“…It was July 25th, 1976. I was sitting in the [Pühtitsa] monastery’s yard on a bench, in the shadow of the bushes, with my notebook. ‘What are you doing; what are you writing there?’ The girl, who was around ten, asked me. ‘I’m trying to write music, but it’s not turning out well.’ I said. And then the unexpected words from her, ‘Have you thanked God for this failure already?’”1

During the Soviet control of Estonia, composer Arvo Pärt found himself at odds with Moscow numerous times. One of these occurred with the premiere of his 1968 work Credo, which contains the words (Latin), Credo in Jesum Christum—I believe in Jesus Christ. Consequently, Pärt was unofficially censured. “[T]he composition was hushed up and further performances were banned.”2

The middle section of Credo was structured “to imitate chaos and destruction”, in order to juxtapose an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, with but I say to you, do not resist evil (Matt 5:38–39).3 As Pärt relates, this could have been interpreted as “the collapse of the Soviet regime”.4

Tensions increased to the point the composer realized it was becoming economically infeasible to continue in his profession while under Soviet rule.5  Shortly thereafter, a ‘recommendation’ prompted him to leave his homeland, as his wife, Nora recounts:

“A leading member of the Central Committee visited us at home in autumn 1979; he recommended that we leave the country. It was supposed to look like a voluntary decision—but in fact it was an expulsion which, at that time, was irreversible; we boarded the train to Vienna shortly afterwards.”6

Residing now in the West, freed from Soviet shackles, Pärt increasingly undergirded his works with Christian-themed texts. After the Soviet Union disintegrated, Pärt eventually returned to his homeland, Estonia.7

Born September 11, 1935 in Paide, Estonia to an Orthodox father and a Lutheran mother, Arvo Pärt was raised as a Protestant, though not especially religious as a youth.8 At conservatory, during his studies of Western composers, particularly their sacred texts, he was moved by the works’ spiritual nature. This, in turn, motivated him to pursue his own spirituality, to the extent it would inextricably intertwine with his music.9

Pärt formally converted to the Orthodox Church in 1972.10

Two album releases post-expulsion (and Soviet disintegration) are reviewed below:

Litany (ECM New Series 1592, BMG 78118-21592, © ECM Records, 1996)
Orient & Occident (ECM New Series 1795, Universal Classics 289 472 080, © ECM Records, 2002)

Litany consists of three pieces. The first (title piece Litany) Litany bookletfeatures the Tallinn Chamber Orchestra (Tõnu Kaljuste conducting), Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir, and the Hilliard Ensemble (vocal quartet). The second and third pieces are instrumental, featuring the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra (Saulius Sondeckis conducting). Disappointingly, besides the text for the title piece, Litany, no explanatory liner notes are provided; so, information had to be obtained through other research.

—Litany is set to the (King James) English text of 4th century theologian John Chrysostom’s hourly prayers—24, for each hour of the day. At nearly 23 minutes long, it comprises a bit over half the length of the entire disc. Each prayer begins with the vocative, “O, Lord…” Due to differing lengths, Pärt scored the music asymetrically, in order to match the specific pattern of each one.

It reaches its climax during the singing of the 24th. This prayer reads, O Lord, Thou knowest that Thou dost as Thou wilt, let then Thy will be done in me, a sinner, for blessed art Thou unto the ages. Amen. I find the 23rd the most poignant: O Lord, shelter me from certain men, from demons and passions, and from any other unbecoming thing. (Click on the hyperlinked title above [and those below] to listen to the entire piece.)

—Psalom (Slavonic, Psalm): The Slavonic text of Psalm 112 LXX (aka Septuagint) underlies this fully instrumental work. The Orthodox Psalter sources the Greek LXX (rather than the Hebrew Masoretic Text), so the equivalent text in typical Protestant versions is Psalm 113. Its words are exchanged for musical notation. Separating each verse-as-music are long pauses (rests), which provide space for reflection.

—Trisagion (Greek, Tri-Holy, Thrice Holy): “Although it is an instrumental piece, the parameters of this text in Church Slavonic (number of syllables per word, accentuations etc.) are the determining factor in the composition.”11 Part of Orthodox liturgy, the Trisagion text itself contains portions of Scripture, beginning with the Tri-aspect of Matthew 28:19, which is then followed by Luke 18:13 (be merciful to me, a sinner). Its middle reads, “O Holy God, Holy Strong, Holy Immortal, have mercy on us”, which is thrice recited. It concludes with ‘The Lord’s Prayer’, aka ‘Our Father’. In the score this text is written under the notes, in order to guide the musicians.12

All in all, I rate Litany a 4.5 out of 5. Well programmed, with Psalom providing a welcome break after the more demanding listen of the title piece and Trisagion fitting as a finale. Perhaps a good place for the Pärt novice to begin.

The Orient & OccidentOrient Occident release consists of three pieces. All tracks feature the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Swedish Radio Choir, with Tõnu Kaljuste conducting. At over 30 minutes, the five piece suite of the final work Como cierva sedienta constitutes two-thirds of the disc’s duration.

—Wallfahrtslied / Pilgrims’ Song: The version here is for men’s choir and string orchestra (2001). It was originally written (1984—for tenor or baritone voice and string orch) after the death of friend Grigori Kromanov, Estonian film and stage director. Pärt’s musical intent here is to bridge the chasm now forged between the two—between time and timelessness, temporality and eternality. The orchestra musically represents the time side; the men’s choir, the other. The text, sung in German, is Psalm 121 (LXX), which begins, “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills…”

Orient & Occident (East & West): As Psalom and Trisagion in the earlier (above) release, the text here speaks through the music. The underlying words come from the Old Slavonic of the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed (381).13 This Creed is “among the few religious texts that are the same in the Western and Eastern Church.”14 The music is a commingling of Eastern and Western styles.15 The composition appears to reflect Pärt’s Christian ecumenism—a seeming desire that Christians be, perhaps, less sectarian.16

Como cierva sedienta (Spanish, like a thirsty deer): The text here is Psalms 42–43 (LXX), sung in Spanish, featuring Helena Olsson, soprano.

Why art thou cast down, O my soul?
And why art thou disquieted within me?

David’s refrain here is universal in appeal. We all feel this from time to time. “My soul” represents the soul of each of us. Yet, David’s solution to his plight is distinctive:

Hope thou in God:
For I shall yet praise Him

Given the length of Como cierva sedienta, Orient & Occident stands or falls on its relative merits. Candidly, much in the way I dislike sustained high register trumpeting, I do not much care for sustained high pitched soprano singing. It’s just a bit too much for these ears at times. But my assessment is, of course, subjective. You may quite like it. And that’s not to say the piece has no merits. It certainly does. That said, I still prefer the first two works, the first especially. Overall I’d rate this release a 4 out of 5.

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1 Taken from Arvo Pärt’s commencement speech at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary, May 31, 2014.

2 Arvo Pärt Centre > Timeline > 1968 > Premiere of Credo in November.

3 “I Seek a Common Denominator”, Italian musicologist Enzo Restagno’s interview with Nora and Arvo Pärt, 2010, as taken from Arvo Pärt Centre.

4 Ibid.

5 Ibid.

6 Ibid.

7 Peter C. Bouteneff, Arvo Pärt: Out of Silence (Yonkers, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2015), p 51.

8 Bouteneff, Out of Silence, p 48.

9 Bouteneff, Out of Silence, pp 48–51.

10 Bouteneff, Out of Silence, p 48.

11 “Works: Trisagion”, as taken from the short description from Arvo Pärt Center site; see hyperlink at main text.

12 Text obtained from Universal Edition’s page for Trisagion, page 2.

13 See description under the hyperlink at the beginning of this paragraph.

14 Ibid.

15 Ibid.

16 These are my own thoughts, extrapolated from various sources. See, e.g., Bouteneff, Out of Silence, pp 50, 51–53; cf. source at footnote 3 above.

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For Whom the Bells Toll

November 17, 2023 1 Comment

The church bells suspend
yet the sound keeps blooming
out of the flowers

Throughout the West, in select towns and villages large and small, church bells beckon congregants on Sundays and Holy Days. The ringing bells reverberate down the streets and corridors, the streams and river beds, and in and through creation—both God’s and man’s.

Let the heavens rejoice, and the earth be glad; let the sea and all it contains roar; let the fields and all that’s in them exult: then all the trees in the forest will joyfully shout before the LORD (Ps 96:11–13).

The bells toll for whom?

The heavens declare the glory of God; the sky proclaims His handiwork (Ps 19:1).

Opening this post is an adaptation of a Matsuo Bashō haiku.1 Imbued with God’s radiance, the flowers, as all God’s creation, wait in anticipation for the coming emancipation—the glorious Day of the Lord (Rom 8:18–25).

For from the creation of the world, God’s invisible attributes—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made (Rom 1:20).

[See also Music for the Times: Arvo Pärt: Da Pacem.]

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1 As translated by Robert Bly: The temple bell stops, but the sound keeps coming out of the flowers. The idea for this blog post arose from reading the liner notes to Arvo Pärt’s Arbos, ECM NEW SERIES 1325 (831-959-1), ©1987 ECM Records GmbH.

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Staying Within Proper Theological Boundaries: Important Words

April 22, 2023 22 Comments

This post is an extension of Staying Within Proper Theological Boundaries. Here we look at the color-coded words plus “Almighty” in the 381 Nicene Creed.

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty [pantokratōr], Maker [poitēs] of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

And (we believe) in one Lord Jesus Christ—the sole-kin/kind [monogenēs] Son of God, begotten [gennaō] of the Father before all ages [aiōn], Light of Light, true God of true God, begotten [gennaō] not made [poieō], coessential [homo-ousia] with the Father—through whom all things came to be; Who, for us men [anthrōpos] and for our salvation, descended from heaven—enfleshed by the Holy Spirit, and of the virgin Mary—and became man [en-anthrōpos] . . .

Comparing Paired Words

Following are the color-coded terms from the Creed and reasons for their highlighting here.

God, the Father is the ultimate “Maker” (Poitēs) of all things, while the Son is the agent through Whom all things came to be. Accordingly, the Son is not “made” (poieō) but “begotten” (gennaō) instead, which means He is not a creature.

The Son is also “begotten” (gennaō) of the Father before all “ages” (aiōn), meaning ‘pre-time’. It is difficult to speak of ‘a time before time’ without using some sort of temporal category (before all ages); but the implication here is the Son was “begotten” in the eternal realm, as opposed to the temporal realm, thereby establishing His eternality. In other words, since time and space are an integral part of creation—and we have established the Son is “not made”—speaking in terms of Him ‘predating’ all “ages” is to express that an intrinsic trait of the Son is eternality.

The use of “before all ages” with “begotten” serves as a means by which to describe what is implied of the Word (ho Logos) in John 1:1–2: In the beginning was the Word. In the beginning the Word [‘already’] was. Stated more succinctly, ‘Before’ the creation event, the Son ‘already’ was with God.

The Son of God became man (en-anthrōpos) when He was “enfleshed” (“became flesh”—John 1:14) “for us men (anthrōpos) and for our salvation”. The Son of God willingly condescended to take the form of man in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, in order to become a sacrifice for us—a Divine mystery for the sake of humanity.

Who is ‘Almighty’?

God is “Almighty”. Jesus is God (the God-man). But can we say Jesus is “Almighty”?

The use of “Almighty” (Pantokratōr) in the very beginning of the Creed prompts this question.

We believe in one God, the Father Almighty [pantokratōr], Maker [poitēs] of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible.

This word “Almighty” is specifically applied to God the Father, but not to the Son. So, would it be proper to ascribe this same title to Jesus?

Pantokratōr (“Almighty”) is only found ten times in the New Testament. Nine occur in Revelation (1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7, 14; 19:6, 15; 21:22). The remaining one is in 2Cor 6:18, where it is sourced from the Old Testament (“LORD [YHWH], Almighty”). In Revelation most all instances are in the form “Lord God, Almighty”, except two as “God, Almighty” (16:14; 19:15) and one as “Lord God . . . Almighty” (1:8). This latter one is of special interest here. In the ellipsis is the same verbiage as Revelation 1:4: the One Who is, Who was, and Who is coming, which denotes a Divine Title (or Name)1 and is clearly a reference to God the Father in this context.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “Who is, Who was, and Who is to come, the Almighty.”2

Moreover, the next occurrence of “Almighty” (4:8) also contains this same Divine Title (Name). Therefore, it would appear that the referent in 1:8 is also God the Father. This seems especially so given that the remaining instances of “Almighty” in Revelation all refer to the Father. And if we accept the implications of the language in in the 381 Nicene Creed (“one God, the Father Almighty”), then we should definitively conclude that 1:8 be understood as words of God the Father.

Yet in many ‘Red Letter’ Bible versions, these words are attributed to Jesus. These include: Amplified Bible, BRG Bible, 1599 Geneva Bible, International Children’s Bible, International Standard Version, Legacy Standard Bible, Modern English Version, New American Standard Bible, New American Standard Bible 1995, New Century Version, New International Version 1984, New King James Version, New Life Version, and the World English Bible.3 I contend these versions are in error, unless some strong evidence can be adduced to support such an interpretation.

Now, we must note that contained in Revelation 1:8 is the Title “the Alpha and the Omega” (cf. 21:6), which Jesus applies to Himself in 22:13. Moreover, Jesus also applies “the Beginning and the End” to Himself in 22:13, and this same Title is used by “the One Who sits on the Throne” (God the Father) in 21:6. In other words, there is quite a bit of overlap in the Titles of the Book of Revelation.

But then again, the Title (Name) the One Who is, Who was, and Who is coming is only ever applied to the Father.

Yet perhaps I’m missing a more solid connection to support attributing the words of Revelation 1:8 to Jesus? Thoughts or challenges?

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1 See Not Declining the Divine Name?

2 It is possible the quotation ends just before says the Lord God: “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, the One Who is, Who was, and Who is to come, the Almighty. But this has no bearing on the issue at hand.

3 These are all found on BibleGateway, except the New International Version 1984, which I have a printed copy of. Following are among those Red Letter versions which do not use red lettering for Revelation 1:8: Christian Standard Bible, Common English Bible, English Standard Version, English Standard Version UK, Holman Christian Standard Bible, The Living Bible, New International Version, New International Version UK, and New Living Translation.

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